Manhattan Melodrama Page #9

Am I getting the keys to the city, too?

Blackie, I know why you killed Snow.

She shouldn't have told you that.

I asked her not to.

She thought it would help you.

But you know what it means.

Well, that's okay, Jim.

I wasn't expecting anything.

Blackie, what a terrific thing for you to do

and for me.

Forget it.

I can never forget it.

The pity of it is, there's nothing

I can ever do to repay you.

- You see, Blackie...

- Save it, save it. I heard you at the trial.

- What a finish.

- What? Not so bad.

Fresh towels, running water,

even a mattress.

They say "Two Gun" Crowley

went to sleep.

They had to wake him up

to take him to the chair.

It must be that black coffee I drank

why I'm not sleepy.

When you grin like that you make me

think of a little kid on the East Side.

We won't go into that.

Blackie, I should have stopped you.

Years ago I could have done it, too.

When Old Man Rosen died,

it was up to me to take care of you,

but I was too busy.

Too busy getting to be governor

so I could send you to the chair.

Say, you did everything anybody could do.

I'm just a no-good guy, that's all.

Well, hello, Father.

Just in time for Old Home Week.

I'm glad you came, Jim.

You know,

we were almost back to the time

where you pulled us both out of the river.

Now, you see, you just wasted your time.

Now you've got to go

and put me back again.

Well, we all got to be given back

sooner or later, Blackie.

Isn't that marvelous?

Anything you say, anything you do,

he turns it around and puts it into religion.

Except that time I knocked a home run

through your stained glass window

down on Hester Street.

Boy, I'll never forget that.

That's funny,

that doesn't seem so long ago.

And to think this is the first time

the three of us have been together

since the East Side.

A funny kind of a reunion.

Well, anyway, this is once I wasn't late.

Uh-oh, that man's in again.

I'm afraid you better say goodbye, Jim.

Goodbye, Jim.

I can't do it, Blackie.

I've got to commute you.

Have you lost your mind?

Now, you've made your decision,

now stick to it.

Look, as far as I'm concerned,

you're the best friend I ever had.

But above everything else,

you're the Governor!

I can't do this to you.

But you've got to.

Don't you see? You're right.

You get that? You're right.

Where do you get off commuting me?

I'm not afraid to spill it.

I not only got Snow,

but I killed Manny Arnold, too.

I can't help it, Blackie.

I'm not going to let you die. I can't do it.

Say, do you think you're doing me a favor

by keeping me locked up in this filthy trap

for the rest of my life?

You're going to make a great sacrifice,

ruin your career, for what?

So's that I can rot in this hole!

Would you do that to me? No, thanks.

Don't commute me, I don't want it.

Hey, look, Jim,

if I can't live the way I want,

then at least let me die when I want.

- Come on, Warden. Let's go.

- Here.

Give it to him. He needs it more than I do.

- Blackie.

- What?

Goodbye, Blackie.

So long, Jim.

Hey, hey, don't be silly.

This way out, Governor.

There he goes! They're giving it to him!

Quiet!

Ladies and gentlemen, quiet, please, quiet.

His Excellency, the Governor.

Mr. Speaker,

ladies and gentlemen of the Assembly

and the Senate.

A joint session of your two bodies,

called by me as governor of the state,

is an unusual procedure.

It is necessitated

by unusual circumstances.

A few nights ago, as you all know,

Edward J. Gallagher was put to death

in the electric chair at Sing Sing

for the crime of murder.

What you do not know is

that he committed the murder

to silence scandal about me,

which very likely would have cost

my election to the governorship.

The scandal is now unimportant.

But what is important is

that when I learned

of what Gallagher had done for me,

I let my affection for him blind me

in my sworn duty

to the people of this state.

I offered him

a commutation of his death sentence.

The fact that he refused my offer

is no mitigation of my offense.

My election was won with murder,

and I have proven myself

unworthy of my trust.

And I can do nothing less

than tender you my resignation

as governor of the State of New York.

No, Governor! No.

No! No! No!

Hello, Jim.

Hello, Eleanor.

Jim, I owe you an apology.

I once said I didn't think

you were honest with yourself.

That you couldn't apply

your rules of conduct to yourself.

Today, you proved how wrong I was.

What are you going to do now?

I don't know.

Try again, maybe something else.

May I try with you?

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